The Main Man

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares Air Force One Piece Eerie Indiana Jones Black Adder's Seven

Re: Support HERO Indirectly... Remember now that the initial post suggests a five page count, not one. I prefer the six page suggestion though. I imagine wider margins, smaller font sizes, and thinner font faces would all add up to reducing page count.

Re: Support HERO Indirectly...

Re: Support HERO Indirectly...

Re: Support HERO Indirectly... I remember those too now that you mention them. I never bought one though (broke ass teenager then). Nice to know that there is a precedent though.

Re: Support HERO Indirectly... I'm starting to want to take a crack at this myself...

Re: Support HERO Indirectly... Furthermore, how much can one truly accomplish in 5 pages? I think minimalism is the key. Make no assumptions about setting. Imply that your adventures are skeletal; that they are to provide enough material for a GM to get an adventure going. This makes me think of Cheap Ass Games - you provide the core pieces, they provide the rules and game-specific pieces. In your case, you provide the general adventure, key NPCs, driving motives, and maps. The GM must provide the setting, players, etc.

Re: Support HERO Indirectly... I think it could work for any genre. Easier to work with established settings of course.

Re: Support HERO Indirectly... I second the notion. Reminds me of how Risus does single page adventures as well, and even has challenges in which players come up with single page adventures based on key words.

Re: What Can We Do To Serve HERO? Hm... I don't know about a "Living City" being our sole contribution, but it certainly couldn't hurt add one of the things we could do, since it in many ways would be an applied form of "build-off" as you call them, and as I have raised have as a possibility too.

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares Dark Star War Games of Thrones Friday the 13th (you read that right) Half-Bake Boss House Party (you read that right) Pride and Punisher Sappho & Stalin

Re: "Neat" Pictures

Re: Rifts HERO?

Re: Rifts HERO? So here's a new method I conceived of converting Palladium’s MDC, SDC, and HP into HERO’s BODY, STUN, PD, and ED. A. Palladium characters roll 3d6 for all Attributes, which averages 10.5. Not too shabby a comparison to HERO’s base 10 for Characteristics. B. Palladium characters add 1d6 to their Physical Endurance for base Hit Points, but HERO does no such thing. Regardless, 10.5 + 3.5 = 14 HP, which will correspond to HERO’s base BODY score of 10. C. Palladium characters vary in their starting totals, but let’s look at Rifts for a moment: Men at Arms roll 1d4x10 for starting SDC (average 25 SDC) Magic characters roll 4d6 (average 14 SDC) Psychics and Scholars/Adventurers roll 3d6 (average 10.5 SDC) This makes the average SDC value 16.5 SDC, which will correspond to HERO’s starting total of 20 STUN. D. Mega-Damage Capacity is divided in two to get an HP + SDC total, so that will be considered. E. HERO assumes that every +5 AP is 2x the effectiveness of the value below it. Furthermore, 2 BODY, 6 STUN, the maximum effect of 1d6 Normal Damage, costs 5 CP. This will be considered below as well. F. Palladium does not use a subtraction mechanic like PD or ED, but here we will apply it. G. Finally, as MDC/HP/SDC totals get higher and higher, it takes greater and greater amounts of BODY, STUN, PD, and ED to keep up, so Damage Reduction is implemented to remain sensible. Here's the final chart taking everything into account: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 125] [TR] [TD=align: center]AP[/TD] [TD=align: center]Multiple[/TD] [TD=align: center]MDC[/TD] [TD=align: center]HP[/TD] [TD=align: center]SDC[/TD] [TD=align: center]BODY[/TD] [TD=align: center]STUN[/TD] [TD=align: center]PD[/TD] [TD=align: center]ED[/TD] [TD=align: center]Damage Reduction[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]0[/TD] [TD=align: center]x1[/TD] [TD=align: center]30[/TD] [TD=align: center]15[/TD] [TD=align: center]15[/TD] [TD=align: center]10[/TD] [TD=align: center]20[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]2[/TD] [TD=align: center]0%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+3[/TD] [TD=align: center]x1.5[/TD] [TD=align: center]45[/TD] [TD=align: center]23[/TD] [TD=align: center]23[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center]24[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]3[/TD] [TD=align: center]0%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+5[/TD] [TD=align: center]x2[/TD] [TD=align: center]60[/TD] [TD=align: center]30[/TD] [TD=align: center]30[/TD] [TD=align: center]12[/TD] [TD=align: center]26[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]4[/TD] [TD=align: center]0%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+8[/TD] [TD=align: center]x3[/TD] [TD=align: center]90[/TD] [TD=align: center]45[/TD] [TD=align: center]45[/TD] [TD=align: center]13[/TD] [TD=align: center]30[/TD] [TD=align: center]5[/TD] [TD=align: center]5[/TD] [TD=align: center]0%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+10[/TD] [TD=align: center]x4[/TD] [TD=align: center]120[/TD] [TD=align: center]60[/TD] [TD=align: center]60[/TD] [TD=align: center]14[/TD] [TD=align: center]32[/TD] [TD=align: center]6[/TD] [TD=align: center]6[/TD] [TD=align: center]25%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+13[/TD] [TD=align: center]x6[/TD] [TD=align: center]180[/TD] [TD=align: center]90[/TD] [TD=align: center]90[/TD] [TD=align: center]15[/TD] [TD=align: center]36[/TD] [TD=align: center]7[/TD] [TD=align: center]7[/TD] [TD=align: center]25%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+15[/TD] [TD=align: center]x8[/TD] [TD=align: center]240[/TD] [TD=align: center]120[/TD] [TD=align: center]120[/TD] [TD=align: center]16[/TD] [TD=align: center]38[/TD] [TD=align: center]8[/TD] [TD=align: center]8[/TD] [TD=align: center]25%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+18[/TD] [TD=align: center]x12[/TD] [TD=align: center]360[/TD] [TD=align: center]180[/TD] [TD=align: center]180[/TD] [TD=align: center]17[/TD] [TD=align: center]42[/TD] [TD=align: center]9[/TD] [TD=align: center]9[/TD] [TD=align: center]25%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+20[/TD] [TD=align: center]x16[/TD] [TD=align: center]480[/TD] [TD=align: center]240[/TD] [TD=align: center]240[/TD] [TD=align: center]18[/TD] [TD=align: center]44[/TD] [TD=align: center]10[/TD] [TD=align: center]10[/TD] [TD=align: center]50%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+23[/TD] [TD=align: center]x24[/TD] [TD=align: center]720[/TD] [TD=align: center]360[/TD] [TD=align: center]360[/TD] [TD=align: center]19[/TD] [TD=align: center]48[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center]11[/TD] [TD=align: center]50%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+25[/TD] [TD=align: center]x32[/TD] [TD=align: center]960[/TD] [TD=align: center]480[/TD] [TD=align: center]480[/TD] [TD=align: center]20[/TD] [TD=align: center]50[/TD] [TD=align: center]12[/TD] [TD=align: center]12[/TD] [TD=align: center]50%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+28[/TD] [TD=align: center]x48[/TD] [TD=align: center]1,440[/TD] [TD=align: center]720[/TD] [TD=align: center]720[/TD] [TD=align: center]21[/TD] [TD=align: center]54[/TD] [TD=align: center]13[/TD] [TD=align: center]13[/TD] [TD=align: center]50%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+30[/TD] [TD=align: center]x64[/TD] [TD=align: center]1,920[/TD] [TD=align: center]960[/TD] [TD=align: center]960[/TD] [TD=align: center]22[/TD] [TD=align: center]56[/TD] [TD=align: center]14[/TD] [TD=align: center]14[/TD] [TD=align: center]75%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+33[/TD] [TD=align: center]x96[/TD] [TD=align: center]2,880[/TD] [TD=align: center]1,440[/TD] [TD=align: center]1,440[/TD] [TD=align: center]23[/TD] [TD=align: center]60[/TD] [TD=align: center]15[/TD] [TD=align: center]15[/TD] [TD=align: center]75%[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]+35[/TD] [TD=align: center]x128[/TD] [TD=align: center]3,840[/TD] [TD=align: center]1,920[/TD] [TD=align: center]1,920[/TD] [TD=align: center]24[/TD] [TD=align: center]62[/TD] [TD=align: center]16[/TD] [TD=align: center]16[/TD] [TD=align: center]75%[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] These are assuming straight MDC conversions. Obviously, HP and SDC characters do not have such evenly split HP/SDC ratios, and they generally have more SDC than HP, so you can add HP and SDC together for the equivalent MDC total. Since MDC is not only 100x HP/SDC but also a Damage Threshold, 6e's "Damage Negation" Power provides a handy tool for keeping MDC more balanced in HERO rather than just giving extraordinarily high BODY and STUN scores. Damage Negation -7 Physical DCs/ -7 Energy DCs (70 Active Points) should suffice for any Mega-Damage character, though it opens up the opportunity for more variable levels. Personally, I don't bother with literal conversion anymore, but what are everyone's thoughts?

Re: 6th Edition Heroic Action Points Interesting implementation method. I'll share some of my experiences and house rules later.

Re: Bard villain/mastermind: how?

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares Some of these next ones actually sound good to me: Assault on District 13 Breaking Bone Dexter Who Epic Meal Time Bandits The Girl Who Kicked the Marble Hornets' Nest The S Shield Winkler: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Re: Damage Die Type Modifiers I think Hugh is right about Flash using the same price structure as Normal Damage when it congress to Sight Group Flash. I think non-Targeting Flashes can get away with the base die price -2 CP. 1d4 - 2 CP 1d6 - 3 CP 1d8 - 4 CP 1d10 - 6 CP 1d12 - 8 CP As for Aid, I realized that Aid grants up to 6 CP and it costs... 6 CP per die. Whatever the maximum on the die is, that's your cost right there. I think Dispel is as easy as how Aid works, but divided in two 1d4 - Aid (4 CP); Dispel (2 CP) 1d6 - Aid (6 CP); Dispel (3 CP) 1d8 - Aid (8 CP); Dispel (4 CP) 1d10 - Aid (10 CP); Dispel (5 CP) 1d12 - Aid (12 CP); Dispel (6 CP) 1d20 - Aid (20 CP); Dispel (10 CP) I'll have to look at Average effect later. Not sure about Healing or Drain, but they should be able to use the same cost whatever it comes to. Mental Blast though. Hm... Maybe it could work off the same price as Drain and Healing. Mental Powers are still a mystery to me for now.

Re: Damage Die Type Modifiers On the one hand, I concede that my method would not be ideal for STUN Only as a modifier. On the other hand, I am not experimenting with reinventing the wheel, just with other ways to make the wheel work. That is, I'm working with the possibly emergent parallel between Damage Classes as they are versus CHAR costs, if perhaps pure coincidence, and not turning them on their ear, such as with "reverse d6's" which don't exist in the HERO system. On the other hand, consider 1d6 of Killing Attack, -1 Decreased STUN Multiplier (-1/4), which would cost 12 CP Standard: 3 BODY, 3 STUN Avg: 3.5 BODY, 3.5 STUN Max: 6 BODY, 12 STUN So, while my method isn't perfect, it's still in the ball park and seems to provide a decent starting point. Now let's look at d2 at 3 BP instead of 2, d4 at 4 BP instead of 3, and d8 at 6 BP instead of 7. At 12 Damage Classes, that comes to... 20d2 15d4 10d8 Now all of this is considering Normal Damage Classes - STR dice, Hand-to-Hand Attack, and Blast all could work with these price structures. I think Killing Attacks, Adjustment Powers, and Mental Powers would need their own examinations and price structures for each die type. I'll explore that later when I can.

Re: Turakian Age meets Terran Empire Come to think of it, the recent Disney flick "Sorcerer's Apprentice" briefly explained magic as the manipulation of subatomic vibrations. Or something like that. On a similar note, the main character has a predilection for scientific geekery, which is later explained by Nicolas Cage (and I suppose the script as well) as magic adeptness more or less - the main character has the goods to conduct magic because he is so scientifically minded. Hm...

Re: Damage Die Type Modifiers Since the minimum STUN damage is equal to BODY damage, no - a "reverse d6" would do 6 Body, 6 STUN at maximum, so 9 CP, which is close to 1d6 K with Decreased Multiplier.

Re: Turakian Age meets Terran Empire Couple of interesting ideas so far. It seems that the path is through metaphysics. Makes me think of how the Greeks once thought all matter was composed of the four elements. Four elements versus four forces hm... Then along comes Anaximander IIRC with his hypothesis of the fifth element: Milla Jov- er... Um, I mean the "apeiron," defined more or less as an absence that balances the other four elements. So what if this so-called "Source" I mentioned earlier was this fifth element that creates void in the elements and physical forces and thus allows for manipulation aka magic?

Re: Damage Die Type Modifiers 2 BODY, 6 STUN, the maximum effect for 1 Normal Damage Class, which costs 5 Base Points each, is the same cost as buying those same CHAR. I find this to not only be an interesting correlation, but a useful one for determining the costs for alternate dice. To me, tampering with the standard d6 basis of the system is a natural entrance into "!" Territory, but I believe that if the maximum effect is dismissed, the costs will be skewed and inaccurate.

Re: Second Best Game System ? Either FUDGE or Risus. Where HERO provides hard rules to model almost anything, FUDGE just, well, fudges everything, making story and roleplaying take center stage. Risus takes this even further with its monomechanical "cliches." Plus, they're free.

Re: Damage Die Type Modifiers So how do each of the dice costs compare? Let's look at, say, 60 points' worth - 12 Damage Classes That's... 30d2 - 30 BODY, 60 STUN (+6 BODY, -12 STUN, no net difference) 20d4 - 20 BODY, 80 STUN (-4 BODY, +8 STUN, no net difference) 12d6 - 24 BODY, 72 STUN (standard) 8.5d8 (59.5 CP) - 25 BODY, 68 STUN (+1 BODY, -4 STUN, -1 net difference) 7.5d10 - 22 BODY, 75 STUN (-2 BODY, +3 STUN, -0.5 net difference) 6d12 - 24 BODY, 72 STUN (standard) 3.5d20 (59.5 CP) - 24 BODY, 70 STUN (-0 BODY, -2 STUN, -1 net difference) 1d100 (67 CP) - 17 BODY, 100 STUN (-7 BODY, +28 STUN, +7 net difference) All in all, some dice do slightly more in one area and slightly less in the other, but they are generally balanced between eachother.